xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"

Statutory Instruments

2001 No. 476

AGRICULTURE, ENGLAND

The Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2001

Made

20th February 2001

Laid before Parliament

22nd February 2001

Coming into force

19th March 2001

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food ( “the Minister”) being a Minister designatedM1 for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972M2 as regards the common agricultural policy of the European Community, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by that sectionM3, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Marginal Citations

M3The power of the Minister to make regulations in relation to matters in or as regards Scotland is preserved by section 57(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46).

Title, commencement and extentU.K.

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2001, shall come into force on 19th March 2001 and, subject to paragraph (2), shall apply to England.

(2) Paragraph 1 of Schedule 3, and regulation 10 in so far as it relates to that paragraph, shall also apply to Scotland.

InterpretationU.K.

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to a Community instrument is a reference to that instrument as amended on the date on which these Regulations are made.

(3) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation (with no corresponding reference to a specific instrument) is a reference to the regulation so numbered in these Regulations and any reference to the Schedule is a reference to the Schedule to these Regulations.

(4) A reference in these Regulations to anything done in writing or produced in written form includes a reference to an electronic communication which has been recorded and is consequently capable of being reproduced.

Marginal Citations

M4S.I. 1975/2210, amended by S.I. 1976/1203, S.I. 1977/1960 and S.I. 1979/941 and revoked by S.I. 1979/1748.

M5S.I. 1979/1748, amended by S.I. 1980/2028, S.I. 1981/1843 and S.I. 1982/1886 and revoked by S.I. 1984/2024.

M6S.I. 1984/2024, amended by S.I. 1985/2075, S.I. 1987/2129, S.I. 1991/392 and S.I. 1991/1439 and revoked, insofar as they applied to Northern Ireland, by S.R. (N.I.) 1987 No. 92 and, insofar as they applied to Great Britain, by S.I. 1992/269.

M7S.I. 1994/2740, amended by S.I. 1995/100, 1481, 2778 and S.I. 1996/27 and revoked by S.I. 1996/1500.

M8S.I. 1996/1500, amended by S.I. 1997/33, 1998/206, 1999/375; S.I. 1996/1500 ceased to apply by virtue of S.I. 1999/3316.

M10O.J. No. L214, 13.8.1999, p. 31.

M11O.J. L246, 30.9.2000, p. 46.

M12O.J. L280, 30.10.1999, p. 43.

M13O.J. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 1.

M14O.J. L332, 28.12.2000, p. 63.

M15O.J. L281, 04.11.1999, p. 30.

M16O.J. L228, 08.09.2000, p. 25.

M18O.J. No. L355, 5.12.92, p. 1.

M19O.J. L182, 21.7.2000, p. 4.

M20O.J. L160, 26.06.1999, p. 21.

M21O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.

M22S.I. 1994/1712, amended by S.I. 1996/3109, S.I. 1998/1606 and S.I. 1999/590.

M23S.I. 1999/590 amended by S.I. 1999/2735 and 2933.

M24S.I. 1992/2677 amended by S.I. 1994/2741, S.I. 1995/2779, S.I. 1996/49, S.I. 1997/2500 and S.I. 2001/281.

Power to make paymentsU.K.

3.  Subject to regulation 5, the Minister shall make payments of hill farm allowance in respect of the year 2001 to any claimant who is eligible under regulation 4 in respect of any eligible forage area.

Eligibility of producers for hill farm allowanceU.K.

4.—(1) Subject to Article 14.2 of Council Regulation 1257/1999 (third indent), and to regulation 5, a claimant shall be eligible for hill farm allowance provided—

(a)his claim is made in an area aid application submitted in the year 2000;

(b)an area of at least ten hectares of claimed forage area entered in that area aid application lies within a less favoured area; and

(c)subject to paragraph (2), the notional livestock density on the eligible forage area is not less than 0.15 livestock units.

(2) The Minister may determine that a notional livestock density of less than 0.15 livestock units is sufficient for the purposes of paragraph (1)(c) if he is reasonably satisfied that it is appropriate to do so in all the circumstances of the case, having regard, in particular, to the number of animals other than relevant animals kept on the eligible forage area and any other obligation of the claimant as to the number of animals that may be kept on the land comprising the eligible forage area.

(3) In order to enable him to consider whether to exercise his discretion under paragraph (2), the Minister shall be provided with such information as he reasonably may require.

Conditions as to continued use of eligible landU.K.

5.  Hill farm allowance shall not be paid to a claimant unless—

(a)he has given a written undertaking, in such forms as the Minister may reasonably require, that he will or would, for a period of five years from the date of payment of the first compensatory allowance, continue to use at least ten hectares of eligible land for agriculture; and

(b)he is not in breach of that undertaking at the date of payment.

Release from undertakingU.K.

6.  A claimant is released from the undertaking referred to in regulation 5—

(a)if he is prevented from continuing to discharge that undertaking by reason of any material circumstance beyond his control; or

(b)if he ceases farming and at least ten hectares of the eligible land last used by him for the grazing of animals continue to be used for agriculture.

Rates of paymentU.K.

7.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and to regulations 8 and 9, payments of hill farm allowance in respect of the descriptions of eligible forage area specified in column 1 of Schedule 1 shall be made—

(a)in relation to the first 350 hectares of eligible forage area in respect of which the claim is made, at the rates specified in column 2 of Schedule 1;

(b)in relation to the next 350 hectares of eligible forage area in respect of which the claim is made, at one half of the rates specified in column 2 of Schedule 1.

(2) Subject to regulation 4(1)(b), if the notional livestock density is less than 1.0, the payment shall be increased by 20%.

(3) Except where paragraph (2) applies, the total amount payable to a claimant shall be increased by 10% if the claimant satisfies any one of the following criteria, and by 20% if he satisfies any two or more such criteria—

(a)the claimant is a registered organic farmer;

(b)the claimant—

(i)in the year 2000, submitted applications for both sheep annual premium and suckler cow premium; and

(ii)the number of suckler cows in respect of which he applied for suckler cow premium in that year is equal to at least 15% of the relevant animals;

(c)the notional livestock density is less than 1.2;

(d)at least one hectare, or 5% (whichever is the smaller), of the claimant’s eligible land is planted with arable crops or woodland in respect of which the claimant is not receiving any other financial support and was not converted from permanent pasture after the year 1998.

Increments to paymentU.K.

8.—(1) After calculating the amount payable to each claimant as provided by regulation 7, the Minister may, if he thinks fit, increase that amount by a fixed percentage provided that—

(a)such increase does not exceed 20% of that amount; and

(b)the percentage increase is the same for each claimant.

(2) If the amount payable to a claimant by virtue of regulation 7 and paragraph (1) is less than 90% of the compensatory allowance paid to that claimant in respect of the year 2000, he shall be paid, in addition to that sum, such further sum as is necessary to increase the total hill farm allowance payable to him to 90% of the compensatory allowance paid to him in respect of that year, or, if less, such proportion of that further sum as relates to the claimed forage area which was entered in his area aid application for that year and which lies within a less favoured area.

Exclusion of forage areaU.K.

9.  In relation to any claimant who has an individual reference quantity of milk available to him, the deductions specified in Schedule 2 shall apply to the claimed forage area for the purposes of determining the relevant forage area.

Holdings situate partly outside EnglandU.K.

10.  The provisions of Schedule 3 shall apply in relation to holdings situate partly outside England.

Joyce Quin

Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

20th February 2001

regulation 7(1)

SCHEDULE 1U.K. PAYMENT RATES PER HECTARE

column 1column 2

1.Severely disadvantaged land (not being moorland or common land)

£34.40

2.Disadvantaged land (not being moorland or common land)

£18.60

3.Moorland or common land

£13.02

regulation 9

SCHEDULE 2U.K. DEDUCTIONS FROM CLAIMED FORAGE AREA

1.  If, on 31st March 2000, a claimant had available to him an individual reference quantity of milk, the claimed forage area shall, subject to paragraph 4 of Schedule 3, be subject to the deductions specified in paragraph 4.U.K.

2.  The deductions shall be calculated by reference to the number of livestock units deemed to constitute the dairy herd kept by the claimant on land in England (“the notional dairy herd”), determined in accordance with paragraph 3.U.K.

3.  The notional dairy herd shall be calculated as follows—U.K.

where— “IRQ” is the individual reference quantity of milk (expressed in litres) available to the claimant in relation to his land in England;

“TLU” is the number of livestock units in the notional dairy herd; and

“5730” is the number of litres of milk deemed to be equivalent to the annual production of one dairy cow.

4.  The deductions to claimed forage area shall be made as follows—U.K.

(a)X hectares shall be deducted from A, where X is equal to the lesser of—

(i)TLU÷ 2; and

(ii)A;

(b)if TLU is greater than 2X, Y hectares shall be deducted from B, where Y is equal to the lesser of—

(i)(TLU - 2X)÷ 1.4; and

(ii)B;

(c)if TLU is greater than 2X + (1.4 x Y), Z hectares shall be deducted from C, where Z is equal to the lesser of—

(i)TLU - (2A + (1.4 x Y)); and

(ii)C;

regulations 1(2) and 10

SCHEDULE 3U.K. HOLDINGS SITUATE PARTLY OUTSIDE ENGLAND

Agency arrangementsU.K.

1.—(1) The Minister may arrange for any of his functions under these Regulations in relation to any claim in respect of a holding situate partly in Scotland to be exercised on his behalf by the Scottish Ministers, and may agree to exercise any corresponding functions on behalf of the Scottish Ministers.

(2) Any such arrangement shall be in writing and be signed by or on behalf of the Minister and the Scottish Ministers and any such arrangement may be subject to such conditions (including conditions as to the costs and charge for costs) as may be agreed from time to time.

Set-offU.K.

2.—(1) In relation to a holding situate partly outside England, the amount of any sum payable by the Minister by way of hill farm allowance, whether as principal or on behalf of any other competent authority, may, without prejudice to the amount of any sum payable by the Minister to any other competent authority, be set-off against the amount of any sum recoverable by the Minister, whether as principal or on behalf of such competent authority.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), “other competent authority” means the Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales or, in Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Apportionment of livestock unitsU.K.

3.  Where any holding in respect of which a claim has been made is situate partly outside England, the number of livestock units grazed on that part of the holding which is situate in England shall be calculated as follows:

where— “X” is the claimed forage area in hectares of that part of the holding which is situate in England;

“Y” is the total claimed forage area in hectares of that holding;

“TLU” is the total number of livestock units grazed on that holding; and

“N” is the number of livestock units grazed on that part of the holding situate in England.

Apportionment of individual reference quantity of milkU.K.

4.  Where any holding in respect of which a claim has been made is situate partly outside England, the individual reference quantity of milk which shall be treated as available to a claimant in relation to his land in England shall be calculated as follows:

where— “X” is the claimed forage area in hectares of that part of the holding which is situate in England;

“Y” is the total claimed forage area in hectares of that holding;

“TIRQ” is the total individual reference quantity of milk available to the claimant in respect of that holding; and

“IRQ” is the individual reference quantity of milk which is treated as available in respect of that part of the holding which is situate in England.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply to England, implement Commission Regulation 1750/1999 (O.J. L214, 13.8.99, p. 31) (“the Commission Regulation”) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1257/1999 (O.J. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 80) (“the rural development Regulation”) on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations. They also implement Chapter 9 of the England Rural Development Programme approved by the Commission (Commission Decision No. C(2000) 3003) under Article 44 of the Council Regulation.

In particular they implement Articles 13, 14 and 15 of the Council Regulation (which deal with support for less favoured areas) by defining the conditions of eligibility for hill farm allowance(regulations 3–6) and the rates at which it is to be paid(regulations 7–8 and Schedule 1).

Regulation 10 and Schedule 3 enable the Minister, in respect of holdings that are situate partly in England and partly in Scotland, to arrange for his functions under these Regulations to be exercised on his behalf by the Scottish Ministers and to agree to exercise any corresponding functions on their behalf, and to set off sum payable as principal against sums recoverable as agent, and vice versa. They also provide for the apportionment of eligible forage area and livestock units in relation to such holdings.

Penalties in respect of an over-declaration of land area are provided by Article 48(1) and (3) of the rural development Regulation. The England Rural Development Programme (Enforcement) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/3044) give the Minister power to recover payments in the event of a breach of the undertakings referred to in regulation 5, and create offences of making false or misleading statements and of obstruction of an authorised officer.

The England Rural Development Programme, together with a copy of Commission Decision No. C(2000) 3003 approving it, is available for inspection at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.

No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations.